Jamaican Jerk Grilled Eggplant (30 Minutes!)

If you like spicy, saucy food, this recipe is for you. And seeing as we are about to enter grilling season (at least in the Pacific Northwest!), it’s the perfect time for another a grillable plant-based recipe.

Shall we?

The inspiration for this recipe came from Jamaican jerk chicken. It’s been so long since I’ve had that dish, but I’ve always been drawn to smoky, spicy, earthy foods. Jerk seasoning fits all of those categories.

This recipe requires 30 minutes from start to finish, and hopefully you have all the ingredients you need in your pantry right now! Don’t sweat it if you’re missing a couple of spices. If you’re checking most the boxes, you’re good!

Eggplant is sliced into thick “steaks” and generously brushed with your jerk marinade, which is comprised of tamari, coconut sugar, fresh ginger, garlic, lime juice, chilies, onion, and an array of spices like cinnamon, coriander, and cayenne.

The result is a sauce with BIG flavor that soaks right into the eggplant before they’re grilled to perfection. Mmmm.

For serving, I went for rice (you could also use cauliflower rice!). And I even whipped up an impromptu dipping sauce for serving, which is entirely optional but adds another wave of flavor I adore to this dish.

I hope you LOVE this recipe! It’s:

Hearty
Smoky
Spicy
Tender
Healthy
Quick + easy
& Insanely delicious

This would make the perfect plant-based dish for grilling this spring and summer. If you don’t have a grill, don’t worry! I relied on my grill pan, which worked just as well without all of the fuss of firing up the grill.

Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more tamari for saltiness, lime juice for acidity, fresh herbs for earthy flavor, coconut sugar for sweetness, pepper for heat, or garlic for bite / zing.

Slice eggplant vertically (lengthwise) into 1/2-inch-thick "steaks" and generously brush both sides with the marinade.

Heat up a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat and lightly oil / grease to discourage the eggplant from sticking. Once hot, add eggplant and grill on both sides until golden brown and grill marks are present - about 3-5 minutes each side.

In the meantime, prepare sauce (optional!) by adding BBQ sauce, lime juice, oil, coconut sugar / maple syrup, ginger, salt, pepper, onion, and cayenne pepper to a small and whisking to combine. Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more lime for acidity, coconut sugar for sweetness, cayenne for heat, or salt for saltiness.

Serve grilled eggplant as is or over rice, over cauliflower rice, or with sauce (optional), and garnish with fresh herbs, such as parsley or green onion. Best when fresh! Leftovers won't be as good as fresh, but they will keep in the refrigerator up to 2-3 days.

Talk About It

Hi Dana,
we have tried it and it was great. We used instead of the coconut sugar agave syrup… yummy :) We hadn´t enough egg plants, so we also prepared a zucchini. This sauce is also great for zucchinis :) :) :) Thanks for this great recipe.
Hugs and Kisses
Trixilie & Bea

This is brilliant! Love anything spicy! Eggplant tends to be bitter no matter if I salt or not. I will make this for dinner tonight with grilled asparagus and cauliflower rice. I appreciate your recipes and inspiration!

Omg, my husband and I just got back from our honeymoon in Jamaica and we have been craving everything jerk seasoning so I cannot wait to try this!
If we already have a jerk seasoning mix made up how could we substitute that in to this recipe? Or do you suggest just making it as is?

I’m on the east coast (New Jersey) and you are right about grilling time being just around the corner. Will definitely try this recipe and really appreciate you offering substitute ingredients for the coconut as my wife and I are not big coconut fans.

OMEggplant! Ah, yes – this looks fabulous. My husband just walked in while I was gawking at this and yep its on the meal plan this week. Plus it looks super simple to make, which I love when I have two kids at my feet.

Delicious…i was so impressed with this and how easy it was for me. I had 85% of the ingredients, so there wasn’t much shopping to do. My husband wasn’t much for eggplant, but he loved it. If I could post a picture I would.

Hi Dana, We made this tonite and put it on the grill over open flame. Made the sauce and served over rice that I cooked with lemon zest and the fresh thyme……AMAZING!!!!! Family loved it…Thankyou so much for all your creative (and incredibly delicious) recipes! I make them all the time :)

Made it this weekend! So easy and so good. Paired it with a grilled carrot asado and your grilled portobello with avocado chimichurri over herb lemon quinoa. It was a huge hit. Thank you for the recipes.

Just made this recipe and it’s delicious! Any tips on preventing the scallions from sticking to the grill pan when you flip the eggplant over? Also, does the nutritional information you provided include the optional sauce or not? Thanks for a great meal idea!

Adding this to my staple list! I made some coconut rice and black beans to go with and topped the eggplant with grilled pineapple and chimichurri. I’m feeling very emotional about this meal.

Have you experienced the top and bottom of the eggplant being just a little bit tough? It was strange because those were not the thickest areas of the slices. Do you think I should cut them even thinner next time?

Just made this and we loved it! I wanted it as part of a full meal, so made cuban rice with onions and black beans and steamed some green beans and broccoli. Next time I’d omit the sugar from the sauce. I added some leftover cashew cream I had sitting to the sauce to make it less sugary/vinegary.

I used this to marinade zucchini with a couple adjustments (used chilli powder instead of cayenne, subbed jalapeno for habanero and left out the garlic -low fodmap reasons-) and had a lot of leftover marinade so I used it on tofu the next night…so goooooooood!!! Would also be great on tempeh I bet. Thanks so much for the recipe!

So I made this last night. First of all, I’m not a huge cinnamon fan and usually omit. I didn’t this time and I have to say – it was a really nice compliment to the sauce. Which leads me to my “secondly,” THIS SAUCE IS THE BEST SAUCE EVER. I used sweet baby ray’s as my base but I will definitely be using this for other things!!

This is amazing! Instantly a firm favorite. I left the aubergine (sorry I’m British) in the marinade while I the cauliflower rice leaving a great sauce to add instead of making the dipping sauce. I just wish I had made more

Not too long ago, I used to be the girl who loved her dishes sopping wet with chili sauce. Thai restaurants would always bring me the spiciest possible meals they could cook for me, and I’d end up tossing in half a bottle of Sriracha to elevate the heat even more!
Now, I’ve toned it down much more, but I still love my food bursting with heat and flavors! This Jamaican Jerk eggplant will be perfect for me–cannot wait to try it!

SO good!! I used chicken instead of eggplant… put on the grill, and dipped in the most delicious BBQ sauce. YUM. I made the bbq sauce two different ways… one with annie’s bbq & the other with tessemae’s catsup…. both were super good. thanks!!

Hubby & I made this recipe last night! So incredibly tasty! I baked a sweet potato and stuffed it with this chopped Jamaican Jerk Grilled Eggplant! Will be making this again. Simple, quick and tasty! Good recipe. Thanks again.

I made this with several modifications. I used less oil (canola) and tamari, personal preference. I used regular sugar because I didn’t think maple would fit. I also didn’t have any fresh thyme, so I used dried. Finally, I used chipotle powder instead of cayenne. I cooked it on the grill. I completely forgot about the BBQ sauce. It was good anyway. Thanks for the recipe.

This was delicious! Everything I have made from you has been so I had high expectations, and they were met! My husband isn’t much of an eggplant guy but he still really enjoyed it and loved the flavors. Thanks for the recipe!I

I have three more recipes of yours on my meal plan this week. Looking forward to them all!

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Hi, I'm Dana! I create simple, delicious recipes that require 10 ingredients or less, one bowl, or 30 minutes or less to prepare.